UPDATED: NOV 24, 2021 9.6-ounce can pours black with faint auburn highlights when held up to bright light; 1/16' creamy brown head with lots of residual lacing. Aroma: crème brûlée, vanilla beans. Flavor: crème brûlée, dark brown sugar, molasses, burnt toast, well-roasted campfire marshmallows, coffee ice cream, dark chocolate, figs, dates, vanilla beans, black pepper. Mouthfeel: full-bodied, velvety, soft -- an exquisite creaminess; boozy warmth at the end.
Earlier Rating: 11/1/2020 Total Score: 4.1
9.6-ounce can pours dark black with some ruby highlights, along with a 1/2' creamy brown head and lacing. Aroma: a sweet blend of campfire marshmallows, brown sugar, molasses and chocolate. Flavor: milk chocolate, coffee with cream, wooden char, figs, dates, vanilla beans, vanilla ice cream, and yes -- creme brulee! Mouthfeel: medium- to full-bodied with a soft, creamy finish; not as full-bodied as I would have expected for its ABV.
Earlier Rating: 12/21/2018 Total Score: 3.7
From a tap and into a crowler at a beer store nearby, this pours dark, dark brown with mahogany highlights and a tiny spritz of brown head and residual lacing, along with lots of visible carbonation. Aroma: brown sugar, campfire marshmallows, caramel, vanilla. Flavor: all of the above, ramped up, along with coffee, chocolate, mocha, sweet cream, figs, dates. Mouthfeel: full-bodied with an oily finish. I've tasted this from bottle in years past and enjoyed it more before. I doubt that the recipe has changed, so it must be that I've become less keen on such sweet beers. It's definitely a dessert sipper as it's very sweet and very filling.

UPDATED: NOV 13, 2021 4 pack from ABC Liquors in Winter Park, FL. Aroma is Baileys Irish Creme, caramel, butterscotch, some coffee. Taste is sharp booze, creamy caramel, sweet vanilla cream in bitter coffee. This is basically a Kahlua or Baileys Irish Cream heavy beer, so if you’re into either of those, you might like this.

UPDATED: MAY 9, 2021 Bottle pour, dark brown, sweet buttery vanilla Aroma. Fairly sweet but tastes exactly like creme brûlée. Strong butter, sweet cream, and vanilla notes.

UPDATED: NOV 21, 2020 Super deep and dark brown coloured body with an almost completely opaque (around 90 per cent) black glow with a nice, relatively small, single centimetre tall, very smooth (nitrogenated, of course) tan head. Nice and the beautiful look of the nitrogen as it settles looks great. Aroma of super strong vanilla, lactose, icing sugar, deep milk chocolate, rich cream, milk, light nuts and more pure caster sugar - very nice and incredibly sweet and pungent in the nose. Medium to Full-bodied; Super rich lactose, cream and especially chocolatey notes dominate here with a ton of sugars as this tastes more like a dessert than a beer with a lot of icing sugar and sweetness dominating along with a velvety texture from the nitrogen. Aftertaste shows the rich chocolate and nuttiness with a lot of lactose, cream and icing sugar, with a pure pastry and vanilla note at the end along with a sweet bite and very flavourful bite. Overall, a very nice and seemingly much different beer than (at least, I remember) the original [in bottle format]. Great to sample as the weather is getting colder and nice given the fact that the first can that I bought exploded within a month. I sampled this small 9,6 ounce can [nitrogenated] purchased from Total Wine in Alexandria, Virginia on 24-October-2020 for US$4,99 sampled at my house here in Washington on 20-November-2020.

UPDATED: NOV 6, 2020 Dark brown color, brief head Full body, silky texture, flavorful, dense taste, low heat and carbonation, lingering aftertaste. Sweet, hint of bitterness, alcohol and acidity in the background. Fruit and roast at start, dry fruit, weird or medical tastes, some appearance of crème brûlée. Pleasant but not a favorite.
Earlier Rating: 3/13/2015 Total Score: 3.9
Opaque, clear. Vanilla nose, a little coffee. Full body, moderate to intense flavor, silky texture, not much alcohol heat, long palate, flavorful finish. Bittersweet but not cloying, little acidity, good balanced. Pronounced vanilla and coffee flavor, Delicious milk stout dressed up as a stout. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

UPDATED: NOV 5, 2020 9.6 ounce can. Translucent dark brown color. Finger high creamy tan head. Rich sweet caramel nose. Sweet roasted malt flavor. Notes of vanilla, espresso and warming alcohol. Quite indulgent. Bittersweet chocolate lingers on the palate. Creamy mouthfeel. Long complex finish.
Earlier Rating: 12/27/2018 Total Score: 3.9
12 ounce bottle. Brief tan head. Roasted malt nose hints at caramel and vanilla. Sweet roasted malt flavor. Big boozy notes upfront. Notes of burnt sugar, vanilla and Cuban coffee.

UPDATED: OCT 28, 2020 Exquisite black pour w/ a tan head & excellent lacing. The aroma explodes with sweetness. The taste is certainly dessert like, sugary sweet but not over the top. The palate is remarkably thin & the 10% is very well hidden. All in all, this is still a fantastic brew!
Earlier Rating: 10/14/2011 Total Score: 4.3
Sweet chocolate aroma that is nearly hypnotizing. Pours a dark opaque black with thin tan head. The taste is like drinking your favorite dessert. The 9% AB is well hidden in the chocolate goodness. Simply an amazing exotic stout. Incredible!

UPDATED: OCT 26, 2020 Taster. Poured dark reddish/brown color with an average creamy brown head that was was lasting with very good lacing. Moderate to heavy toasted dark sweet chocolate aroma. Medium to full body with a smooth texture and nitro carbonation. Medium to heavy dark robust sweet flavor with medium to heavy lactic sweet finish of moderate to long duration. Solid complex beer.
Earlier Rating: 8/23/2008 Total Score: 3.9
Bottle from River’s Bend. Poured black color with a moderate to an average frothy brown head that mostly lasted with good lacing. Heavy toasted toffee with a small alcohol aroma. Full body with a creamy texture. Heavy butterscotch malt flavor with a heavy bittersweet finish of long duration. This is a heavy standout beer.

UPDATED: OCT 20, 2020 Can from the Packie. Dark brown in color with a small creamy mocha head that persists. Lots of caramel and vanilla but also a bit of bitter cinnamon or nutmeg like flavor that distracts a bit. I think the original non nitro version was creamier and sweet and I miss it.
Earlier Rating: 1/29/2011 Total Score: 4.4
Pours a solid black with a very minimal head that disappears almost instantly. Aroma is burnt sugar, caramel, vanilla, a little chocolate, and bit of alcohol as it warms. Smells exactly as advertised, like a sugary desert. Taste follows the smell to a tee. I had to look at the bottle twice to see if this was artificially flavored, and it appears not to be. Tastes like dessert, gets a bit sweet towards the end of the glass. Thick sticky mouthfeel, maybe a bit grainy as in grains of sugar. Full body and ample carbonation. Certainly a different beer. I enjoyed it immensely, but is not something I would drink often. I would call this a dessert beer, one to be sipped and enjoyed. Another one outside the box from Southern Tier, Great Job!

UPDATED: OCT 11, 2020 Amazing pastry stout. Liquid dessert with vanilla, custard, and caramelized sugar. Silky smooth with sweet finish. Enjoy in a snifter.